Columnist questions Mike Shanahan's ability to stay on the job five days after calling for his contract extension

Last Tuesday, five days after the Washington Redskins lost a season-killing game to the lowly Minnesota Vikings, Washington Post columnist Jason Reid defended head coach Mike Shanahan. Reid said a confluence of factors led to the team’s 3-6 record and that Shanahan, whose contract ends after the 2014 season, needed an extension before next year to right the ship he’s been steering since 2010.

The gist of Reid’s Nov. 12 column is that the crippling salary cap sanctions against the Redskins hindered Shanahan’s ability to build a roster. Given the disrepair of the roster, the best man to fix it is the current head coach, writes Reid. It would lead to stability. Reid concludes his column by writing:

Shanahan came to Washington to lead the Redskins back to the Super Bowl, but he has faced obstacles he didn’t envision. And based solely on Shanahan’s win-loss record, it would be an easy decision for Snyder to decline to give him an extension. It would also be the wrong one.

Fast forward five days, when the only additional development to the Shanahan saga is that the Redskins went on the road to Philadelphia and lost by eight points to a first-place Eagles team. Reid begins his newest column by restating his own argument from Nov. 12 — Shanahan supporters would say he’d been dealt a bad hand. It seems like more of the same Shanahan defense. Then Reid drops the hammer.

No matter how much relevant information is offered in support of Shanahan, however, it’s difficult to imagine any NFL coach would be permitted to return for the final year of his contract, let alone receive an extension, if the team he has led for four years continues to play as poorly as the Redskins did in Sunday’ 24-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sure, Reid throws the “if the team continues to play poorly” caveat into his statement, but the column essentially says that Shanahan can’t be trusted to coach given his team’s poor effort in a must-win game in Philadelphia.

(AP)

Reid then provides a detailed look at the Redskins’ troubles, none of which had changed in those five days between columns. Robert Griffin III has struggled, the offensive line is non-existent, the defense and special teams have been awful, etc. The most recent column is hardly a “get your pitchfork” manifesto, but it undeniably says Shanahan should go.

We’re all entitled to change our minds. Though flip-flopping carries a negative connotation, especially in Reid’s town, it’s healthy for people to come around to the other side of an issue.

Columnist questions Mike Shanahan's ability to stay on the job five days after calling for his contract extension

It didn’t take much for Jason Reid to change his mind.

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